Ashur Smithen

Nov 23, 2024 | make-it-plain.org | Ashur Smithen

Trigger warning: descriptions of sexual violence and assaultIn writing this article, the author in no way means to convey the impression that Indians were merely passive victims. On the contrary, they actively resisted at virtually every stage of their oppression. Indeed when independence was gained it was due to their actions as opposed to their ruler’s benevolence as is commonly stated.

Nov 12, 2024 | make-it-plain.org | Ashur Smithen

Trigger warning: mention of sexual violence and assault In writing this article, the author in no way means to convey the impression that Indians were merely passive victims. On the contrary, they actively resisted at virtually every stage of their oppression. Indeed when independence was gained it was due to their actions as opposed to their ruler’s benevolence as is commonly stated.

Oct 22, 2024 | make-it-plain.org | Ashur Smithen

Jul 30, 2024 | make-it-plain.org | Ashur Smithen

In 1965, Cuba had one physician for every 1,200 people, a dire condition made worse by the exodus of middle-class professionals out of Cuba in the wake of the revolution. 40 years later in 2005, however, Cuba boasted one physician for every 167 people — a number unparalleled anywhere else in the world. In 2015, it became the first country in the world to eliminate the mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.

Jul 17, 2024 | make-it-plain.org | Ashur Smithen

Cuba is a nation in the global South that has been brutalized just like any other. This former Spanish colony only abolished slavery in 1886 compared to Haiti (1804), Jamaica (1835), and the United States (1865). It is currently subject to the longest-lasting trade embargo in modern history, at the hands of the world’s one true global superpower. Despite this, Cuba has not just survived, but flourished in the face of all Western imperialism could throw at it.